New Study: Data Reveals 67% of Consumers are Influenced by Online&nbspReviews

This post was promoted from YouMoz. The author’s views are entirely his or her own (excluding an unlikely case of hypnosis) and may not reflect the views of Moz.

Google processed over 1 trillion search queries in 2014. As Google Search continues to further integrate into our normal daily activities, those search results become increasingly important, especially when individuals are searching for information about a company or product.

To better understand just how much of an impact Google has on an individual’s purchasing decisions, we set up a research study with a group of 1,000 consumers through Google Consumer Surveys. The study investigates how individuals interact with Google and other major sites during the buying process.

Do searchers go beyond page 1 of Google?

We first sought to understand how deeply people went into the Google search results. We wanted to know if people tended to stop at page 1 of the search results, or if they dug deeper into page 2 and beyond. A better understanding of how many pages of search results are viewed provides insight into how many result pages we should monitor related to a brand or product.

When asked, 36% of respondents claimed to look through the first two pages or more of search results. But, looking at actual search data, it is clear that individuals view less than 2% of searches below the top five results on the first page. From this, it is clear that actual consumer behavior differs from self-reported search activity.

Takeaway: People are willing to view as many as two pages of search results but rarely do so during normal search activities.

Are purchasing decisions affected by online reviews?

Google has integrated reviews into the Google+ Local initiative and often displays these reviews near the top of search results for businesses. Other review sites, such as Yelp and TripAdvisor, will also often rank near the top for search queries for a company or product. Because of the prevalence of review sites appearing in the search results for brands and products, we wanted a better understanding of how these reviews impacted consumers’ decision-making.

We asked participants, “When making a major purchase such as an appliance, a smart phone, or even a car, how important are online reviews in your decision-making?”

The results revealed that online reviews impact 67.7% of respondents' purchasing decisions. More than half of the respondents (54.7%) admitted that online reviews are fairly, very, or absolutely an important part of their decision-making process.

Takeaway: Companies need to take reviews seriously. Restaurant review stories receive all the press, but most companies will eventually have pages from review sites ranking for their names. Building a strong base of positive reviews now will help protect against any negative reviews down the road.

When do negative reviews cost your business customers?

Our research also uncovered that businesses risk losing as many as 22% of customers when just one negative article is found by users considering buying their product. If three negative articles pop up in a search query, the potential for lost customers increases to 59.2%. Have four or more negative articles about your company or product appearing in Google search results? You’re likely to lose 70% of potential customers.

Takeaway: It is critical to keep page 1 of your Google search results clean of any negative content or reviews. Having just one negative review could cost you nearly a quarter of all potential customers who began researching your brand (which means they were likely deep in the conversion funnel).

What sites do people visit before buying a product or service?

Google Search is just one of the sites that consumers can visit to research a brand or product. We thought it would be interesting to identify other popular consumer research sites.

Interestingly, most people didn't seem to remember visiting any of the popular review sites. Instead, the brand site that got the most attention was Google+ Local reviews. Another noteworthy finding was that Amazon came in second, with half the selections that Google received. Finally, the stats show that more people look to Wikipedia for information about a company than to Yelp or TripAdvisor.

Takeaway: Brands should invest time and effort into building a strong community on the Google+, which could lead to receiving more positive reviews on the social platform.

Online reviews impact the bottom line

The results of the study show that online reviews have a significant influence on the decision-making process of consumers. The data supports the fact that Internet users are generally willing to look at the first and second page of Google search results when searching for details about a product or company.

We can also conclude that online review sites like Google+ Local are heavily visited by potential customers looking for information, and the more negative content they find there, the less likely they will be to purchase your products or visit your business.

All this information paints a clear picture that what is included in Google search results for a company or product name will inevitably have an impact on the profitability of that company or product.

Internal marketing teams and public relation firms (PR) must consider the results that Google displays when they search for their company name or merchandise. Negative reviews, negative press, and other damaging feedback can have a lasting impact on a company’s ability to sell their products or services.

How to protect your company in Google search results

A PR or marketing team must be proactive to effectively protect a company’s online reputation. The following tactics can help prevent a company from suffering from deleterious online reviews:

First, identify if negative articles already exist on the first two pages of search results for a Google query of a company name or product (e.g., “Walmart”). This simple task should be conducted regularly. Google often shifts search results around, so a negative article—which typically attracts a higher click-through rate—is unfortunately likely to climb the rankings as individuals engage with the piece.

Next, monitor and analyze the current sentiment of reviews on popular review sites like Google+ and Amazon. Other sites, like Yelp or Trip Advisor, should also be checked often, as they can quickly climb Google search results. Do not attempt to artificially alter the results, but instead look for best practices on how to improve Yelp reviews or other review sites and implement them. The goal is to naturally improve the general buzz around your business.

If negative articles exist, there are solutions for improvement. A company’s marketing and public relations team may benefit by highlighting and/or generating positive press and reviews about the product or service through SEO and ORM efforts. By gaining control of the search results for your company or product, you will be in control of the main message that individuals see when looking for more information about your business. That's done by working to ensure prospects and customers enjoy a satisfying experience when interacting with your brand, whether online or offline.

Being proactive with a brand’s reputation, as viewed in the Google search results and on review sites, does have an impact on the bottom line.

As we see in the data, people are less likely to make a purchase as the amount of negative reviews increase in Google search results.

By actively ensuring that honest, positive reviews appear, you can win over potential customers.

About Dhinckley —
As a Partner at Go Fish Digital I specialize in innovative digital marketing solutions, brand strategy, technical web development and support. I work on projects that cover Online Brand Strategy, Reputation Management, Search Engine Optimization, and web development.

Interesting that people seem to like the Google+ Reviews. I tend to prefer those myself as well. I guess that bodes well for suggesting that people pay attention to creating a mybusiness page in Google.

For the longest time, I've been trying to justify how important reviews are. While it's common knowledge that word-of-mouth plays a big role in consumers's decision making, some people (mostly working for SMEs) just don't seem to understand what reviews can do for their business.

Reviews are so relevant not only for SEO, but for user experience in general. People trust crowd sourced reviews in quantity though. When there are just one or two they're less trustworthy, since they could just be a fluke.

Great Information Dan, I usually do not go past the first page when browsing for information. I read a similar study a little while back about reviews. There were saying about 70% so very close study. So I think its important to have your reviews on the main page too. It makes for a better experience for the customer.Now I can show ne of my customers another article about reviews. Maybe this time they won't turn a deaf ear. Hope you do not mide if I use this. Great Article.

You're right, reviews are very important. According to this article they may even impact Google's ranking algorithm - http://www.seobythesea.com/2010/11/how-google-may-manage-reputations-for-reviewers-and-raters/

Online reviews are great source for building trust among site visitors. Once a new visitor reads a positive review, the engagement rate increases spontaneously. And negative reviews help the site owner for better improvement. So reviews, no matter Positive or Negative can create a great impact. But ensure you always have a collection of some really good positive reviews.

I when I look for a product or business in google, look down as you pointed out in your studio, the first page of google and whether the second. Rarely I came to the following pages, unless the first two do not find all the information I need.

As for shopping online, I am of the people before purchasing any service or item need to know that opinion is the company among consumers. It gives security to shop online to know those views. It is also true that a negative opinion can throw you back, but if there is 1 negative opinion among 100 positive, the negative for me is not important.

It is difficult for our website, have no client who is not happy with our service, especially if you have heavy traffic. What we have to try is always to make the customer is not satisfied change your opinion of us and give us another chance.

This article is right on the mark. We're all consumers and we're all looking for information about others for not making any mistakes. This will not only be usefull for improving your SEO ranking (positioning), it'll also come handy to increase customer's satisfaction.

Great stats - I'll definitely be using these when people call asking about Yelp. We've completely changed our reputation management strategy to stop trying to outrank Yelp as it has basically become impossible. Instead, we consult on what needs to change in their business to get better Yelp reviews naturally. We also help them build a process on how to ask people who are happy for Yelp reviews.

That sounds like a good strategy, as a user I look for businesses that are active on Yelp. They might have a bad review here and there but I am also looking for a business owner that responds to bad/good reviews. That usually means they are taking measures to correct previous bad behavior. I have advised clients to follow a similar ORM strategy because I find Yelp users think like I do.

Reviews are always helpful for a product but some time its really challenging to findout the authenticity of reviews. I have seen many e-commerce portals and websites, putting their positive reviews by their own. But i agree, initially positive reviews are very much helpful to attract the visitors. Good work @Dan, enjoyed your research.

Review are great, but once you narrow your review based on the first few, the rest are just confirmation, the mind is already set. That said, without a negative review anywhere, the postiive ones may seem too good, and have diminishing effects.

Excellent stats I will certainly possibly be employing these kind of any time people telephone requesting in relation to Yelp. We've completely improved the standing managing technique to stop trying to outrank Yelp as it offers basically grow to be difficult. As an alternative, we all seek advice from on the would need to alter in their business to have superior Yelp testimonials normally. We all likewise assist these individuals produce a procedure on how to inquire people who find themselves content regarding Yelp testimonials.
Thanks
by Rakib

Nice post. But a remark on the 2% of searchers wich go below the top 5 results in Google.The thing in alle the results about top search results is that they don't take into count the company searches. A lot of searches happen directly with the company name, so they will never go below the 1 result. So it's normal that there is a big difference between the percentage of people that say they are going to 2nd or 3th page and the percentage of the tracking results.

A while ago I started my webdesign company and I noticed these differences also in the appearence of our website in the search results. When people are looking for something specific they will go more in depth and look to a lot more than the first results.

Absolutely right Dan Hinckley, online reviews and reputation are very beneficial for business. Actually that reviews are increasing their awareness of who you are and what you do. If the review are original then i must say it's very useful to Improved search engine results, closer relationship with customers, and some of constructive suggestions. Online reviews cover many more businesses than other media sources ever would.

I agree - Original reviews are important. Building out a plan to be sure to invite users to provide feedback early on in a business can really help it succeed. The positive input lets you know what you're doing right and negative input helps you identify what needs to change.

I used to be one of those people who NEVER went past the first page of search results in google... now that I'm aware of the whole "game" though, I regularly go onto the second, third, and even fourth page of search results to make sure I'm seeing a more complete picture. I prefer when a business has a nice balance of reviews. If it's all 5 stars, for instance, I'm skeptical.

Shops have a preferred Reviews site. They will direct their customers to that site to write a positive reviews. Conseuently when you google on reviews for that particular shop their preferred site will be at the top of your search results. I checked a shop on resellersratings.com with over 2000 reviews in 2,5 year where the ranking was slighty dropping from 8.2 to 8.0 in a period of several months. Within 2 weeks they had a ranking above 9.0 That looks Checking other reviews sites their ranking was moderate or even less. That is suspicious. The shop I am talking about is known to give away discount coupons for positive reviews. I you have an issue with a delivery and wrote a negative reviews you will not get any help before you have removed your review. That way the manipulate their ranking.

Dan, Great Article. Managing your online presence and understanding reviews is so important now. It is amazing to me how many people are not taking advantages of the opportunities because of this. Thanks for the great data.

Many businesses now actively encourage their customers to post a review on their sites or Google Places, or Yelp, whatsoever.Yes, the importance of the online reviews is well known,but how reliable these sources are and how many of the clients really trust them?Even BBB is not trusted anymore,if you check around what their users claim.The question is - who is to be trusted,actually?As Olin Downs mentioned above sometimes you can really spot the "fake reviews", but this is not always possible I'm afraid.Who would you trust as a client ,Dan and how do you choose a new company to buy something from-regardless is it providing goods or services?

In your opinion, or anyone else who has an eCommerce business, what are some great tools, plugins and software sites owners can use to enable reviews? The amount of options out there is MIND-BLOWING -- from WordPress plugins such as WP Custom Reviews, WP Lite, Taqyeem and Rating Manager to Baazarvoice, GetFeedback, PowerReviews and Yotpo.com I would love anyone to respond to this! Obviously, there are pros and cons to each option, but would love your opinions.

I was wondering if, during your study, you found any correlation between number of reviews and making a purchase? For example, does having only 5 reviews at 5 stars influence potential customers more so than 100 reviews at an average of 3 or 4 stars?

True. Reviews are important. Some consumers see or read online review first before they will engage to that product or company. The more positive review it gets, the more consumers would be curious about it.

Hi Dan, Great article. I do believe that reviews are very important especially for prospective customers/clients/guests/shoppers and so on. If the reviews are positive, then it's great customer equity for the service provider and a good referral system. If the reviews are bad, then it gives the service provider an opportunity to improve and provide a better product or service.

Through your research I must say that and even I personally believe that reviews are the all most everything for business/products. If around 70 % of consumers are influenced by online reviews then it's a good sign of having awareness. And if four and more than four negative articles can decrease 70 % of your potential customers, then definitely companies/business will keep in mind about that and they 'll try to give a more accurate product and services to their clients.

I was just checking reviews and especially the value and reliability of reviews. There is a lot of interesting stuff to read about that topic on the Cornell university. I also found some other useful information and spent a web page to gather some information and make it linkable on that page. I certainly will keep extending that page. My page can be found at Online deceptive fake reviews

Reviews equal conversions, and so much more as outlined in your article. Last year I hired a pet sitter who handed me a 2 page print out that instructed me on how to write her a review, and as she handed me the papers she said "but nobody ever leaves a review" and from there I created RevuCue which automates the process for businesses, it encompasses reputation management by only making public the good reviews, and allows the business owner to choose where the reviews are placed publicly. I am a small business owner and I couldn't find a solution to the review problem a year ago, so I created the solution, and as of now we are able to get reviews from 36% of all customers entered, so it works! I have relied on MOZ for years to learn the "white hat' solutions to the complicated mess that is online marketing, and am proud to have created an easy solution with the right principles in mind.

Interesting findings, Dan! Google reviews do play an important role in shaping the consumer sentiments. While it's inevitable to build an active brand presence on Google+, it's equally important to actually pay attention to what your customers are talking about elsewhere. If you have more reviews on Yelp than say on Google+, Google tends to show reviews from Yelp. Regardless , you should deploy an effective mechanism to mitigate any potential grievances.

Great article. While I have noticed the trends growing towards reviews and deeper searches (I personally am one of those 3+ page searchers), it's great to get some fresh definitive data. Ultimately, I feel it's creating a better landscape to help smaller businesses that care, strive. As opposed to just being how much money you can pump into marketing, you are being held accountable for your service at a much higher level. And the reviews are not only just an added element for the truth-seeker types, but they can actually affect your position in the search results as well.

This is true, any long term successful marketing campaign needs to incorporate user feedback. Collecting reviews, inviting customers to provide feedback, and changing your business to improve will make word of mouth marketing that much more successful.

Great article Dan! I think it's great that online reviews have become so important for the success of a business. It really keeps businesses in check, and rewards the company that provides the best product/services. It helps level the playing field and gives smaller businesses a fighting chance.

As much as I like online reviews, I also don't like them I've noticed on so many occasions instances of fake reviews. These reviews usually take the shape of multiple five star reviews all on the same day (the previous review being perhaps a few years ago) and written in broken English or better yet, no review at all. There really does need to be some sort of a better "validation" system for online reviews to ensure they are real.

Also, this brings up the issue of schema mark-up that websites are using to show their reviews. I can not tell you how many times I've seen five star reviews in search results for a site, yet I could not find the site on Yelp or Google+...or if I did find them, the number of reviews and ratings never matched up. Hopefully a better validation system for these online reviews will come to fruition soon.

"A company’s marketing and public relations team may benefit by highlighting and/or generating positive press and reviews about the product or service through SEO and ORM efforts."

So...pay people to cover it up, right? That's very noble of you. Instead of creating more problems for the business, these ones long-term, why not work on what caused the issue in the first place. That's what you should tell people, not this nonsense.

I completely agree that a business must address the negative problem that is causing bad reviews or feedback online. I believe a sentence below what you quoted highlights that:

"That's done by working to ensure prospects and customers enjoy a satisfying experience when interacting with your brand, whether online or offline."

Unfortunately, many organizations have not focused on making it easy for their customers to provide feedback or share reviews online. As a result, a handful or sometimes even a single review can rank highly for a brand and impact future sales. I believe it is the responsibility of a marketing department to both address the issues internally that may cause damage to the brand as well highlight positive reviews and actions performed by an organization.

Today, the best marketing departments and agencies understand the importance of making it easy for customers to provide feedback and share their opinions about their interaction with an organization online. Developing strategies to generate honest and real feedback from customers will help build brands if they're providing quality products and services. A steady stream of real reviews will allow for a more accurate representation of how an organization is performing and not jut the opinion of a few individuals (good or bad).

Hi Dan, thanks for the great article. I guess this (at least partially) comes down to the fact that we are such social creatures in general, but when we buy online we tend to be alone. So, we look for confirmation or opinions from others who are also online. For example, when we go to a store we could take a friend and ask for their opinion or even ask for the opinions of others in the store, but when we buy online we tend to be alone at a computer. So it makes sense that we put so much value in reviews, so we can hear from others who have used the product or service and get a seemingly impartial view of what it is like. Very interesting stuff!

I definitely check out reviews before making any kind of large purchase or even visiting a restaurant these days. Interesting how few people actually go beyond the first 5 results, I didn't think it would be many but it's still less than I thought.